Extensible web-based 3d modeling

ABSTRACT

A system for extending the functionality of a web-based, three-dimensional modeling in a browser application is stored as instructions on a computer-readable medium. The instructions include an interface module that may receive user commands from the browser application that define a script including functions to modify or create a 3D model. The script instructions may cause a rendering of the 3D model to be displayed in a window controlled by the browser application. A modeling engine as a compiled browser plug-in may extends the functionality of the browser application. Further, the modeling engine may include functions to interpret model data corresponding to a 3D model and render the 3D model in accordance with the script. Further instructions include a script interface layer that may expose the modeling engine functions to the interface module for use by the script functions. The script functions extend the modeling engine functions.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/559,934, filed on Nov. 15, 2011, entitled “ExtensibleWeb-Based 3D Modeling,” the disclosure of which is hereby expresslyincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates to a system and method for developingthree-dimensional models of graphical objects and, in particular, to anextensible web-based system and method for developing three-dimensionalgraphic objects.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description that may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentdisclosure.

Today, professional as well as non-professional users in a variety ofdifferent fields, such as engineering, architecture, automotive design,graphic design, advertising, fashion design, medicine, etc., can developthree-dimensional (3D) models of buildings, vehicles, and other objectsusing 3D modeling software that operates on a computing device. A usertypically interacts with 3D modeling software via input devices such asa keyboard, mouse, trackball, and/or stylus, and the drafting documentis displayed on a graphical display device, such as a computer monitoror screen.

In general, 3D modeling software allows a user to draw variousthree-dimensional shapes (directly or by defining two-dimensional facesthat make up 3D shapes), apply colors and/or textures to the shapes,move, scale, rotate, and skew the shapes, etc. 3D modeling softwaretypically provides the user with stock objects (e.g., 3D shapes such asspheres or parallelepipeds and/or two-dimensional (2D) shapes such asarcs, circles, rectangles, and other known geometric shapes) and/orprovides tools to create such objects. Further, 3D modeling softwaretypically allows users to save models as files that conform to a certainpredefined format. To share models, users transmit to each other fileswith the corresponding model data, or upload the files to data servers.

Users usually develop 3D models by sequentially entering various drawingand image manipulation commands via a graphical user interface (GUI).For example, to model a two-story building, a user may first draw afour-wall structure, draw a door in one of the walls, then draw severalwindows in the walls, etc. The user may then paint or texture the walls,the roof, and other portions of the model. Many objects may need to berepeatedly drawn within a three-dimensional object. For the two-storybuilding, a particular style of window may need to be drawn severaltimes within the various floors of the building, a particular style ofroof may be repeated across a wide area, shutters or other decorativestructures may need to be repeatedly placed next to the windows, etc.Accordingly, it may take a significant amount of time for a user orgroup of users to develop a complex and detailed model that includesactions or objects that need to be repeated many times to complete thebuilding.

SUMMARY

The features and advantages described in this summary and the followingdetailed description are not all-inclusive. Many additional features andadvantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in viewof the drawings, specification, and claims hereof. Additionally, otherembodiments may omit one or more (or all) of the features and advantagesdescribed in this summary.

In an embodiment, a tangible non-transitory computer-readable mediumstores instructions for three-dimensional (3D) modeling in a browserapplication and executes on a processor of a computing device. Theinstructions may comprise an interface module that executes on theprocessor to receive user commands from the browser application. Thecommands may define a script including functions to modify or create a3D model and cause a rendering of the 3D model to be displayed in awindow controlled by the browser application. Further instructionsinclude a modeling engine that executes on the processor as a compiledplug-in component of the browser application. The modeling engine mayextend the functionality of the browser application and includefunctions to interpret model data corresponding to a 3D model and torender the 3D model in accordance with the script. Still furtherinstructions include a script interface layer that executes on theprocessor to expose the modeling engine functions to the interfacemodule for use by the script functions. The script functions may extendthe modeling engine functions.

In a further embodiment, a computing device for extending functions of a3D modeling system may comprise a network interface coupled to acommunication network, a processor, a memory coupled to the processor,and a display device coupled to the processor. Further, a browserapplication stored in the memory may execute on the processor toretrieve content from remote hosts via the communications networkinterface and render the retrieved content on the display device. A 3Dmodeling software module stored in the memory may execute on theprocessor and include components. For example, the components mayinclude an interface module that executes on the processor to receiveuser commands from the browser application. The commands may define ascript including functions to modify or create a 3D model and cause arendering of the 3D model to be displayed in a window controlled by thebrowser application. A modeling engine module may execute on theprocessor as a compiled plug-in component of the browser application.The modeling engine may extend the functionality of the browserapplication and include functions that cause the processor to interpretmodel data corresponding to a 3D model and to render the 3D model on thedisplay device in accordance with the script. Further, a scriptinterface layer may execute on the processor to expose the modelingengine functions to the interface module for use by the scriptfunctions. The script functions may extend the modeling enginefunctions.

In a still further embodiment, a method for extending functions of abrowser-based, 3D modeling system in a computing device operating on acommunication network and having a memory and a processor may compriseseveral steps. For example, the method may receive a 3D modeling enginefrom a backend server at a browser application. The 3D modeling enginemay be received as a compiled plugin including functions to extend thefunctionality of the browser application and include an interface layerthat exposes the 3D modeling engine functions for use by a script. Themethod may also receive, via a user interface of a browser application,a user command for authoring the script. The script may includeinstructions that refer to the 3D modeling engine functions, and thefunctions may modify respective portions of model data to change one ormore of dimensionality, positioning, and color of a 3D model component.The method may also send the script to a backend database. The scriptmay be executed to extend the 3D modeling engine functions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system in which techniquesof the present disclosure are utilized to allow a user operating aweb-based 3D modeling system to extend the functionality of that system;

FIG. 2A is a high-level block diagram of an example computingenvironment implemented in a client device of FIG. 1, in which a 3Dmodeling software module and scripting API are provided in a browserplugin;

FIG. 2B is a high-level block diagram of another example computingenvironment that can be implemented in a client device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2C is a high-level block diagram of still another example computingenvironment that can be implemented in a client device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example model which a user operating a clientdevice of the communication system of FIG. 1 may develop;

FIG. 4 is an example user interface for the 3D modeling software moduleincluding a script authoring interface;

FIG. 5 is an example data structure for a 3D model;

FIG. 6 is an example data structure for a user profile corresponding toa user of the 3D modeling software module;

FIG. 7 is a high-level block diagram of an example computing environmentimplemented in two client devices to collaboratively develop a script toextend the functionality of the web-based, 3D modeling system;

FIG. 8A a flow diagram of an example method for extending thefunctionality of the web-based, 3D modeling system; and

FIG. 8B is another flow diagram of an example method for extending thefunctionality of the web-based, 3D modeling system.

The figures depict a preferred embodiment of the present invention forpurposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In embodiments described below, a script interface layer of a web-based,3D modeling engine operating in a web browser application on a clientdevice allows a user to develop additional operations to extend thefunctionality of the engine. The 3D modeling engine may be implementedas a browser plugin and include compiled instructions that areexecutable by a processor of a client device. The engine may providefunctions for creating and manipulating objects in a 3D modelingenvironment, applying colors and textures to the shapes, etc. The scriptinterface layer may expose functions of the engine to add scripts thatare interpretable by a component of the layer to provide additional 3Dmodeling functions. For example, the script interface layer may exposecertain classes and method within those classes to define additionaloperations that a user can perform within a web-based, 3D modeling userinterface by accessing the classes. For example, using the scriptinterface layer, a user may create scripts that define an icons within atoolbar of the user interface that, when selected, adds a non-standard3D shape to the drawing.

As a browser plugin, the user can access modeling functionality withoutlaunching a separate application and, in some implementations, withoutinstalling compiled software components on the client device. The 3Dmodeling software module (or simply “the modeling software”) generallyallows the user to create and edit 3D models of buildings, vehicles,items of furniture, and other objects using various controls, providedvia the browser application, for manipulating component 3D shapes and/or2D faces, defining interactions between the components, grouping thecomponents into composite components, etc. The modeling software alsoallows the user to rotate a 3D model displayed in a browser applicationwindow, change the angle and the distance of the viewpoint relative tothe model, and otherwise control the manner in which the model isrendered on a user interface of the client device. The modeling softwaremay receive user commands via the browser application for modifying the3D model, generate a representation of the desired modifications (alsoreferred to below as “mutations” of the model), and, when used in acollaborative environment, cause the modifications to the 3D model to besynchronized with at least one other client device (see U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/169,705, filed Jun. 27, 2011, entitled“Collaborative Development of a Model on a Network,” the entiredisclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein byreference). The 3D model may be stored in a computer memory as data thatspecifies multiple simple (e.g., cuboids, spheres) and aggregatecomponents having groups of simple components, and modifications to the3D model may include modifications of dimensionality, positioning, coloror texture, and other properties of some or all of the componentsdescribed by the model data.

To operate as a part of a web browser application, the 3D modelingsoftware module includes components to display a user interface througha document object model (DOM) of a browser application or through awindow controlled by the browser application, the networking functionsof the client device on which the browser application executes, and thegraphics functions provided by the browser application or anextension/plugin of the browser application. To support extensibility ofthe 3D modeling software, a script interface layer may be implemented asa separate, compiled software module or as part of the 3D modelingsoftware module.

Referring to FIG. 1, techniques for extending the functionality of aweb-based modeling system may be implemented in a communication system100, for example. In an embodiment, the communication system 100includes a client device 102 and a communication network 104 to whichthe client device 102 is communicatively coupled. In operation, a useroperating the client device 102 develops a model of an object or a groupof objects. The communication system 100 may also include a modelingserver 106 in which a scripting engine 108 facilitates creating andsharing scripts during the model development process. The modelingserver 106 may be coupled to the client device 102 via the communicationnetwork 106. Further, in an embodiment, the communication system 100includes a model database 110 to store model data 112 corresponding tovarious 3D models and a script database 114 to store varioususer-defined scripts 116.

The client device 102 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 118having one or more processors to execute computer-readable instructions,a random access memory (RAM) unit 120 to store data and instructionsduring operation, program storage 122 including persistent memory tostore software applications, shared software components such asDynamic-link Libraries (DLLs), and other programs executed by the CPU118, data storage 124 including persistent memory to store data used bythe programs stored in the program storage 122, and a network interface126 to support wired and/or wireless communications with the modelingserver 106 and other devices operating on the network 104. By way ofexample, the program storage 122 and the data storage 124 may beimplemented on a hard disk drive (HDD) coupled to the CPU 118 via a bus.Generally speaking, each of the components 118, 120, 122, 124, and 126may be implemented in any suitable manner as a single module, multiplemodules, or a component of another module. Further, the memorycomponents such as the RAM 120, the program storage 122, and the datastorage 124 may include any suitable type of tangible, non-transitorycomputer-readable medium.

In the example implementation of FIG. 1, the client device 102 is apersonal computer (PC). However, in general, the client device 102 maybe any suitable stationary or portable computing device such as a tabletPC, a smart phone, etc. Although the computing device 102 in the exampleof FIG. 1 includes both storage and processing components, the clientdevice 102 in other embodiments can be a so-called thin client thatdepends on another computing device for certain computing and/or storagefunctions. For example, in one such embodiment, the data storage 124 andthe program storage 122 are external to the computing device 102 and areconnected to the client device 102 via a network link. Further, theclient device 102 may be coupled to an input device 128 and an outputdevice 130. The input device 128 may include, for example, a pointingdevice such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen, a trackball device,a digitizing tablet, or a microphone, and the output device 130 mayinclude an LCD display device, a touch screen, or another suitableoutput device. Using the input device 128 and the output device 130, auser can access a graphical user interface (GUI) of the client device102.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the program storage 122 may store abrowser application 150 for retrieving content from hosts operating onthe network 104, interpreting and rendering the content, supportingvarious user interactions with the retrieved content, and providing aninterface to author scripts to manipulate the content. Several examplesrelated to browser functionality are discussed in more detail below withreference to FIGS. 2A-C. In some embodiments, the program storage 122stores a 3D modeling software module 152 that implements a scriptinginterface layer 154 and executes in the browser application 150 todevelop both 3D models 112 and scripts 116 to develop, format, andmanipulate the 3D models. In other embodiments the modeling client 152may be stored in the RAM 120 during runtime and not stored in persistentmemory. For example, the modeling engine 152 may be downloaded from themodeling server 106 each time a user develops a 3D model at the clientdevice 102. To this end, the modeling server 106 may include tangible,non-transitory computer-readable medium on which the instructions of themodeling client 152 and script interface layer 154 are stored.

As explained below, the modeling client 152 may include a set ofcompiled instructions executable directly on the CPU 118, a set ofinstructions stored on a computer-readable medium and interpretable bythe browser application 150 at runtime to be executed on the CPU 118, orboth. Generally speaking, the modeling client 152 provides a set ofmodeling controls to generate, position, and variously adjustthree-dimensional objects, apply textures to the shapes or surfaces,define interactions between shapes, etc. Furthermore, the scriptinterface layer 154 may expose functions and methods of the modelingengine 152 so that a user may author various scripts to create andmanipulate shapes.

FIGS. 2A-C illustrate examples of a computing environment in which a 3Dmodeling software module and scripting interface layer may operate as amodeling client in a browser application. The client device 102 of FIG.1 may implement the computing environment of any of FIGS. 2A-C or asuitable combination of these environments.

With reference to FIG. 2A, a computing environment 200 may include anoperating system 202, which may be any suitable operating system such asAndroid, Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Android, iOS etc. In general, theoperating system 110 may include functions and support drivers forscheduling and executing tasks, obtaining memory resources, accessingthe file system as well as input devices, output devices, displaydevices, and other peripheral devices, exchanging messages betweentasks, etc. The operating system 202 may include networking functions204 to support wired and/or wireless communications with other networkdevices. For example, the networking functions 204 may include devicedrivers to support network cards or other network interface modules,such as the network interface 126 illustrated in FIG. 1, for example.

In the computing environment 200, a browser application 206 executes onthe operating system 202 to provide browser functionality, which mayinclude core browser functionality, user interface features and,optionally, one or several additional features such as playback ofcertain multimedia content, for example. Generally speaking, corebrowser functionality may include messaging according to suchcommunication protocols as Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission ControlProtocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Secure Socket Layer (SSL),and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), parsing of content provided in amark-up language (e.g., Hypertext Markup Language or HTML) and scriptsprovided in a scripting language (e.g., JavaScript), authentication,management of digital certificates for SSL communications, caching webcontent and managing the cache, etc. In other embodiments, however, atleast some of the messaging functionality may be provided by theoperating system 202 (e.g., by the networking functions 204). Further,depending on the implementation, the core browser functionality mayinclude rendering images provided in a standard image format such asBMP, JPEG, or GIF, for example, as well as playing back audio files orfeeds and displaying video content provided in respective audio andvideo formats. An interface 208 for a modeling client 210 may beimplemented as a component of the browser 206. The browser interface 208may allow a user to interact with functions of a modeling client 210 tocreate and edit scripts 116, specify target hosts and resources, viewthe rendered content, select links, control interactive content, etc.The browser 206 and interface 208 may also use functions provided by theoperating system 202 for generating viewing windows, displaying usercontrols, processing events related to the displayed user controls, etc.

The modeling client 210 may be provided as a plugin that extends thefunctionality of the browser 206. A modeling client 210 may include ascripting Application Programming Interface (API) 212 and a modelingengine 214. In particular, the modeling client 210 may include compiledcode with functions that may be invoked by the browser 206. The modelingclient 210 can be installed in the computing environment 200 only aftera user of the corresponding computing device agrees to the terms of useof the modeling client 210. The modeling client 210 may correspond tothe 3D modeling software module 152, and may be provided by the modelingserver 106 to the client device 102 in response to a request from theclient device 102.

The modeling client 210 may include a modeling engine 212 and ascripting component 214. In one embodiment, the browser interface 208receives events and data from, and provides content to, the browsermodule 206. For example, the browser interface 208 may receive keyboardevents, mouse click events, touch screen gesture events, voice commands,packets received from network devices via the network functions 204,relevant events of the OS 202, etc. The browser interface 208 mayprovide data such as a raster image of a 3D model to the browser module206, route events originating in the modeling client 210 to the browser206, permit a user to create and edit a script 116, etc. In general, thebrowser interface 208 may facilitate various interactions between thebrowser 206, the modeling client 210 and a scripting API, as describedherein.

The modeling engine 212 interprets model data to generate a raster imageof the corresponding 3D model, creates new components in response tocommands received via the browser interface 208, modifies model data toadd, remove, resize, retexture, and otherwise update selectedcomponents, and provides other functionality for developing 3D models.Using the interface 208 to interact with the modeling engine 212, a usermay generate and position 3D shapes (and, in some cases, 2D shapes),apply colors and/or textures to various shapes, move, scale, rotate, andskew the shapes, group shapes to define aggregate model components, etc.

The scripting API 212 provides an interface via which certainfunctionality and data structures of the modeling client 210 are madeaccessible to other programs, so that the functionality of the modelingclient 210 can be extended to include additional features. The interfaceprovided by the scripting API 210 may be consistent with a scriptinglanguage supported by the browser application 206 and the browserapplication 206 may include a script interpreter 216 to interpret, atruntime, and execute instructions in a scripting language. For example,in an embodiment, the browser 206 and the scripting API 212 supportJavascript instructions.

A collaboration function 218 may allow users to select variousmechanisms for resolving or preventing conflicts between concurrentedits of models 112 and scripts 116. Users may select the desiredmechanisms programmatically, for example, via additional scriptscompatible with the script-based collaboration function 218. In anembodiment, the collaboration function 218 includes a locking functionto lock the model or a component of the model or a script so as toreserve the model/script or the component for editing. In response to auser activating the locking function, the collaboration function 218 maygenerate a locking notification to notify one or more client devicesthat the script/component has been locked. Various other functions mayallow client devices to modify the same script/component in parallelwithout locking the component and allow users to select variousmechanisms for resolving or preventing conflicts between concurrentedits.

Each of the components 200-214 may be provided as a respective set ofcompiled instructions within the modeling client 210. In anotherembodiment, the modeling client 210 initially may be provided with themodeling engine 214 and interface module 208, and the collaborationfunction 218 may be provided in the form of additional compiledinstructions in response to a separate request from the client device.

FIG. 2B illustrates a computing environment 250 that includes anoperating system 252 with networking functions 254, a browser 256including a script interpreter 258, and several 3D modeling componentsprovided as respective scripts interpretable by the script interpreter258 at runtime. In particular, the computing environment 250 includes aninterface 260, a collaboration function 262, and a modeling engine 264(generally similar to the components 208, 218, and 214, respectively),each provided in a scripting language. In an embodiment, the components250-264 are provided separately, so that the user need not download anyof the particular modules or functions unless he or she wishes to extendthe modeling system with those functions.

FIG. 2C illustrates an example client-side 3D modeling sub-system 275that may be implemented in the client device 102 of FIG. 1. As anotherexample, the modeling client device 210 and the browser 206 of FIG. 2Amay be implemented similar to the 3D modeling sub-system 275.

The 3D modeling sub-system 275 includes a browser application 276 inwhich a 3D modeling engine 278 may operate as a plugin implemented, atleast partially, as a set of compiled instructions. The 3D modelingengine 278 may be provided as a dynamic link library (DLL), for example.Typically, the functions of the 3D modeling engine 278 may execute atthe same speed as the browser application 276. Moreover, the 3D modelingengine 278 may be provided as a file stored in a predefined locationwhich the browser application 276 always queries upon launch to detectthe presence of, and automatically load, files conforming to a certainformat.

The 3D modeling engine 278 may be platform-specific and can be providedin different formats for different operating systems. In someembodiments, the 3D modeling engine 278 utilizes graphics functionsprovided as a part of the browser application 276 or externally to thebrowser application 276. For example, the 3D modeling engine 278 may usecross-platform APIs for efficiently rendering graphics such as OpenGL®.More specifically, the 3D modeling engine 278 may interpret model data,which may include descriptions of various 3D and/or 2D shapes that makeup the corresponding 3D model (stored in any suitable format including aproprietary format defined specifically for 3D model data), and invokevarious functions of the OpenGL API for drawing lines, points, and otherbasic primitives to efficiently generate raster images. The OpenGL APIin turn may utilize the available graphics hardware, such a GPU,transparently to the 3D modeling engine 278. In response to receiving auser interface event from the browser application 276 indicating thatthe 3D model is to be rotated, the 3D modeling engine 278 mayre-interpret the model data to determine which combination of geometricprimitives describes the new perspective view of the 3D model, andinvoke the corresponding OpenGL functions. In addition to interpretingmodel data, the 3D modeling engine 278 may provide functionality similarto that of the modeling engine described in relation to FIGS. 2A and 2B,above.

The 3D modeling sub-system 275 also may include a script interfacecomponent 280 to facilitate the interaction of the 3D modeling engine278 with the user interface module 282 of the browser application 276and provide a framework for efficiently adding extensions to theavailable 3D modeling functionality. More specifically, the scriptinterface component 280 may include a low-level engine API 284, one orseveral browser-specific components 286, a glue layer 288, and a scriptAPI 290. The browser-specific components 286 may include, for example,an ActiveX® component 286-1 configured to wrap, or operate as a proxyfor, the functions of the 3D modeling engine 278 so as to operatespecifically in an ActiveX framework if the browser application 276 is aMicrosoft Explorer browser or a compatible application. As anotherexample, the component 286-2 may be a Netscape Plugin ApplicationProgramming Interface (NPAPI) component. Depending on the implementationof the browser application 276, one of the browser-specific components286 may be active when 3D modeling functionality of the modelingsub-system 275 is invoked, while the other browser-specific components286 may remain inactive.

The low-level engine API 284 provides an interface between the 3Dbrowser-specific components 286 and the 3D modeling engine 278, so thatthe same 3D modeling engine 278 can be used in multiple (or all) browserapplications, which in some cases are provided by differentmanufacturers. For example, in an embodiment, the same 3D modelingengine 312 can be used in a Microsoft Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari,or a Google Chrome browser application 276, and a respective one of thebrowser-specific components 286 makes the 3D modeling engine 278compatible with the corresponding framework via the low-level engine API284.

The glue layer 288 may be implemented in an Interface DescriptionLanguage (IDL), for example, to bridge browser-specific components 286with the script API 290, which provides access to at least somefunctions of the 3D modeling engine 278 (and, in some cases, otherfunctions exposed by the browser application 276) via a scriptinglanguage interpretable by the browser application 276 at runtime. Thescript API 290 may be provided in JavaScript, for example. Generallyspeaking, the script API 290 allows users to efficiently extend,customize, and configure the 3D modeling engine 278 via various scripts292.

In an embodiment, 3D modeling engine 278 includes collaborativefunctionality. In another embodiment, however, the 3D modeling engine278 does not include collaborative functionality, and the script API 290is used to add collaborative functionality to the 3D modeling sub-system275 via one of the scripts 292. For example, referring back to FIG. 2A,the scripting API 212 in the computing environment 200 may be similar tothe script API 290, and the collaboration function 218 may be developedas discussed above to add collaborative functionality to the modelingengine 214. In yet another embodiment, the 3D modeling engine 278provides several different mechanisms that can be used for collaborativemodeling on a communication network, and the script API 290 is used byone of the scripts 292 to select and access the desired mechanism.

The user interface module 282 may define user interface functions for 3Dmodeling in the browser application 276. More specifically, the userinterface module 282 may provide functions for manipulating objects(e.g., drag, drop, highlight) within a window which the browserapplication 276 allocates and controls for 3D modeling. Further, theuser interface module 282 may provide various interactive controlsdisplayed within the window. These interactive controls may be, forexample, icons on which a user may click to select stock objects,texture or color objects, rotate objects, scale objects, etc. The userinterface module 282 may also include functions to author a script 116,292 within a window of the browser. The script 116, 292 may includeinstructions that also manipulate or create objects using the 3Dmodeling engine 278. For example, the script instructions may cause themodeling engine to interpret model data to determine a combination ofgeometric primitives and invoke a corresponding OpenGL function to makechanges to the displayed model. The user interface module 282 may alsouse a function of a script 292 to access another function of the 3Dmodeling engine 278 to add an interactive control within the window.These scripts 292 may define JavaScript functions that implement variousinteractive controls and functions of the 3D modeling engine 278 todraw, format, or edit components of a 3D model. The user interfacemodule 282 may be implemented using a suitable Software Development Kit(SDK) for developing front-end scripts, such as Asynchronous JavaScriptand XML (AJAX) instructions, that run on different types of browserapplications. In an embodiment, the user interface module 282 isimplemented using Google Web Toolkit (GWT).

The devices discussed above may be used to provide extensiblefunctionality to a web-based 3D modeling system. While the extension ofthe web-based modeling system is discussed below in relation to 3Dmodels, these or similar techniques also may be applied to 2D drawingsand other types of data. For ease of explanation, the scenario isdiscussed with reference to the client device 102 and the modelingserver 106 of FIG. 1.

According to an example scenario, user Abby operating the client device102 begins to develop a 3D model 300 as illustrated in FIG. 3. The model300 may include a house component 302 and a garage component 304. Eachof the components 302 and 304 in turn may include severalsub-components. For example, the house component 302 includes a door310, walls including a southern wall 312S, an eastern wall 312E, and aroof 314. A garage component 304 may include a roof 330, a door 322, andwalls including a southern wall 312S and an eastern wall 312E. The model300 may also include other components such as windows and a chimney.According to one embodiment, each of the components illustrated in FIG.3 is made up of one or more elements such as 3D geographic shapes:cuboids, spheres, pyramids, etc. In another embodiment, the componentsof FIG. 3 may be generated using groups of two-dimensional faces:squares, circles, triangles, etc.

The modeling client 102 may generate components of the model 300 usingthe web-based 3D modeling system 100 according to commands received fromuser Abby. For example, to draw the roof 320, Abby may draw multipleshapes and group the shapes using the user interface of the modelingclient 102 (e.g., by selecting several shapes with a mouse andactivating an icon for generating a group of selected shapes). Ingeneral, a model can have nested components at multiple levels. Forexample, Abby may group several shapes to define a window framecomponent, then group the window frame component with several 3D shapesto define a window component, create several instances of the windowcomponent and group these several instances into a larger “multiplewindows” component, etc.

The script interface layer 154 may allow a user to define a script 116including instructions that, via the script interface layer 154, callfunctions of the 3D modeling software module 152 to provide additionalfunctionality to the module 152 and the web-based 3D modeling system100, generally. With reference to FIG. 4, the scripts 116 may be relatedto various user controls, drawing functions, application skins, etc., asrepresented by various icons 402 within a user interface 400 for theweb-based 3D modeling system 100. In some embodiments, a user may definea script 116 that combines components as groups including multiple 3Dshapes (and possibly other components) and then generate multipleinstances of the defined component. For example, an interactive control406 may cause the browser 150 to interpret instructions that instantiatea script interface window 407. The window 407 may provide the user witha text area 408 to author a script 116 that includes method andfunctions 410 of the 3D modeling engine plug-in (e.g., 152, 210, 264,278) as exposed via the script interface layer/API 154, 212, 290 (and708A, 708B of FIG. 7 as described herein). One example of a script 116defined by the user may include JavaScript instructions to draw a roofcomponent (e.g., roof 314 of FIG. 3) and an icon 404 as an interactivecontrol corresponding to the script 116. When a user selects theinteractive control icon 404 corresponding to the script 116, theinstructions of the script may cause the processor 118 (via the browser276) to execute/interpret instructions of the script 116 and draw theroof component 314. In further embodiments, when a user later edits aninstance of a script or a component, the changes are automaticallyapplied to other instances.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example data structure 500corresponding to the model 300, which the modeling client 210 andengines 214, 264 may generate when user Abby groups the shapes in themanner outlined above. After Abby creates the model 300, the modelingclient 210 and engines 214, 264 may initially store model data 124Aincluding the data structure 500 in the data storage 124. The datastructure 500 includes a root node 502, a house branch 504, and a garagebranch 506. Each of the branches 502 and 506 stores a particularcomponent of the model 500. Further, the house branch 504 includes aroof branch 508 that corresponds to the roof component 314 as well asother branches corresponding to other components (a doors component, awalls component, etc.). The roof component 314 or any other componentsmay have been created by executing/interpreting a script 116. As can beseen in FIG. 5, the garage branch 506 includes, among other branches, adoors branch with a right-door branch 510 that corresponds to thecomponent 322. The right-door branch 510 may specify the component 322as a set of 3D shapes, texture and/or color information, animation data,and other data. In general, a component may include drawing data,non-drawing data (text labels, metadata), and other components that alsomay include drawing and non-drawing data. In addition to the datastructure 500, the model data 124A and 112 may include other information(e.g., metadata) such as timestamp information, user information, etc.

In an embodiment, the modeling client 152 utilizes the data structure500 to represent a selected component of the model 300 in a serializedformat. Generally speaking, by generating a serialized representation acomponent branch, a device operating in a collaborative developmentenvironment permits another device, such as a client device or amodeling server, to properly resolve conflicts and address collisionsbetween modifications submitted at several devices. A serializedrepresentation and operational transformation (OT) techniques may allowclient devices to modify the same component in parallel without lockingthe component. A serialized representation of a branch may include asequence of basic 3D shapes (cuboids, spheres, etc.) that make up thecorresponding component.

A script 116 may be developed collaboratively, as well. If two userscollaboratively edit version V of a line of the script 116, such as“function drawRoof (int x, int y, int z)” modifications to the script116 may be expressed as text editing commands (e.g., insert, delete,replace, etc.) applied at specific character positions within thescript. For example, a first user may wish to replace the word “draw” inthe tenth through thirteenth bytes of the line with the word “create.” Asecond user may wish to insert the world “string q” following thenineteenth byte of the line according to the same version V of the line.If the command from the first user is applied to the line before thesecond user modification, the unmodified command from the second user isthen applied to the wrong portion of the line. However, the commandsfrom the first user and the second user can be easily reconciled bymodifying the index at which the new word is to be inserted. In fact, inthe example above, regardless of the order in which the two users submitmodifications to the line, the conflict between the two commands iseasily resolved, if the version V to which the corresponding command isapplied is known. Thus, modifications to documents in which data isrepresented linearly (e.g., JavaScript text documents) or in terms ofnumbered cells (e.g., spreadsheets) can be concurrently performed usingindexing relative to a known version of the document. It is noted thatthis approach is compatible with lock-based as well as lock-freecollaborative development.

The modeling client 152 may provide a library of functions which may beinvoked by the browser 150 at runtime by various scripts 116 that areauthored by a user or users, managed by the extensions manager 156, andstored in a remote database 114. The scripts extend the modelingclient's 152 basic library of functions. A script API 212, 290 mayextend the functionality of the corresponding 3D modeling engine 214. Inan embodiment, the modeling client 152 also exposes a library ofcollaboration functions via a collaboration API. The collaboration APImay be provided as a component of the scripting API 212, 290. Thelibrary of functions may include, for example, a drawBox function togenerate a first type of basic shape and a drawCircle function togenerate a second type of basic shape, and a group geometry function togroup the 3D shapes under the root node, etc. Users may then use thescripting API 212, 290 to develop a script 116 that uses several of thebasic functions to create a component includes several basic 3D shapes.The developed script 116 may also be associated with an interactivecontrol such as the icon 404. At runtime, the icon 404 may be displayedwithin the user interface 400. A user may select the icon 404 associatedwith the script 116 and cause the browser 150 to execute/interpret thefunctions described in the developed script 116.

In an embodiment, the collaboration API provides a transform functionwhich a script or a compiled program may invoke with a parameter listthat includes the identifier of an entity (e.g., a component, an elementsuch as a 3D basic shape, etc.), a transformation operation selectedfrom a predefined list (e.g., translate, rotate, scale), and a useridentifier. The collaboration API also provides a new_component functionto add a definition and/or an instance of a component under the rootnode 452. The new_component function may be invoked with a definition ofthe new component, a user identifier, and a component identifier. Also,the collaboration API may include functions start_edit, edit, andend_edit, which the corresponding script invokes when a user begins toedit a component, edits the components, and completes editing thecomponent, respectively. In an embodiment, invoking the functionstart_edit causes the collaboration API to automatically lock thecomponent, and invoking the function end_edit causes the collaborationAPI to automatically unlock the component.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram representing an exemplary user profile 600managed by the profile manager 160 (FIG. 1). In an embodiment, theprofile 600 includes user data 602. The user data 602 may includepersonal information about the user, including the user's name, address,phone number, information about client devices associated with the user,etc. In an embodiment, the modeling software and/or one or more scriptextensions 116 associated with the modeling software and/or one or moremodels associated with the modeling software may be available accordinga subscription model. The subscription model may allow various servicelevels related to functionality of the modeling software, availabilityof updates, availability of one or more scripts, etc., according to thestatus of users as subscribers. Accordingly, the user data 602 may alsoinclude subscription data, indicating the user's subscription status(i.e., whether the user has a subscription, the type of subscription,when the subscription expires, etc.). The user data 602 may furtherinclude payment information, such as credit card information, used forsubscription purposes and/or to purchase models 112 and/or scripts 116,in an embodiment.

The profile 600 may also include data 604 about models the user hascreated, and data 606 about models the user has purchased and/ordownloaded. For example, a user may have unrestricted rights todownload, edit, and/or share models that the user created, which modelsare identified in the data 604. Additionally, in an embodiment, the usermay choose the rights associated with any particular model 112 that theuser created, and the rights associated with each model 112 created bythe user may be recorded in the data 604. The data 606, by comparison,may include records related to models 112 that the user has purchasedfrom, for example, an online marketplace of models, or records relatedto models 112 that user has downloaded or to which the user has beengiven rights by the model's creator.

Of course, the profile 600 also includes data 608, 610, and 612 relatedto the scripts 116. For example, the profile 600 includes data 608related to scripts created by the user. Like the models indicated by thedata 604, the scripts indicated in the data 608 may be downloadable,editable, or sharable by the user because the user created the scripts.In an embodiment, the user may choose the rights associated with aparticular script 116 that the user created, and the rights associatedwith each script 116 created by the user may be recorded in the data608. The data 610 may record scripts 116 that the user has purchased, inembodiments implementing a marketplace for scripts (i.e., a means forusers to buy and/or sell scripts 116).

It is not always necessary or desirable, however, for a user to haveinstalled all of the scripts 116 that the user created (e.g., thescripts 116 indicated in the data 608) or the scripts 116 that the userdownloaded and/or purchased (e.g., the scripts 116 indicated in the data610). For example, a user may create an script 116 solely for thepurpose of selling it or making it otherwise available to other users,without the user choosing to install the script 116 on the device onwhich the user runs the 3D modeling application. For this reason, in anembodiment the profile 600 additionally includes data 612 indicatingscripts 116 that are currently installed on the user's client device.Thus, any particular script 116 may be indicated in the data 608 ascreated by the user, but not indicated in the data 612 as installed torun on the user's client device. As a result, a user may experience aseamless transition between experiences on multiple client devices. Thatis, the user may install one or more scripts 116 to run with the clienton the user's tablet computer (e.g., the client device 102), and thescripts may be automatically installed to run with the client on theuser's desktop computer (e.g., the client device 14) upon the userlogging into the user's profile.

FIG. 7 depicts a block diagram of an embodiment 700 of the system 100. Auser, Abby, has as the first client device 702 a laptop computer and asthe second client device 704 a tablet computer. The laptop computer 702has installed on it browser software 706A, which is configured to run aninstalled 3D modeling application plug-in 710A, and an installedscripting API 708A for exposing functions of the 3D modeling plug-in710A to develop various scripts 116 that may be executed/interpreted bythe browser 706A. Abby may enter her identification and authenticationinformation into an interface of the plug-in 710A. The information maybe transmitted from the laptop 702 to the server 712 and, in particularto the profile manager 714, which may receive the identification andauthentication information and associate the laptop 702 with a profile716 for Abby. Abby may execute a command associated with the plug-in710A to contact the extension manager 718 on the server 712, and searchfor, download, and install a collection of extension scripts A, B, C, D,and E from the script database 720. The extensions A-E may be stored asscripts 116A on the laptop computer 702. Upon downloading the extensionscripts A-E, the extension manager 718 may instruct the profile manager714 to update Abby's profile 716 to indicate (e.g., in the data 602)that Abby has downloaded the extensions A-E and to indicate (e.g., inthe data 612) that Abby has installed the extensions A-E.

Abby may also create an extension S, which may also be stored as one ofthe extension scripts 116A on the laptop computer 702. In someembodiments, the user may select the interactive control 406 (FIG. 4) todisplay the script interface window 407 within the interface 400. Aftercreating the extension S, Abby may activate a control in the 3D modelingapplication plug-in 710A to upload the extension S to the extensiondatabase 720. Accordingly, the software may contact the extensionmanager 718 via the network 104 and may transmit the extension S to theserver 712 for storage in the database 720. The extension manager 718may instruct the profile manager 714 to update Abby's profile 716 toindicate (e.g., in the data 608) that Abby has uploaded the extension S.If Abby installs the extension S on the laptop computer 702, theextension manager 718 may instruct the profile manager 714 to updateAbby's profile to indicate (e.g., in the data 612) that Abby hasinstalled the extension S. At the end of Abby's session using the laptopcomputer 702 (or after a time period, or immediately) the profilemanager 714 may update Abby's profile 716 in the profile database 722.

Later, Abby may use her tablet computer 704. The tablet computer 704 hasinstalled on it browser software 706B, which is configured to run aninstalled 3D modeling application plug-in 710B, and an installed scriptAPI 708B for exposing functions of the 3D modeling plug-in 710B todevelop various scripts 116 that may be executed/interpreted by thebrowser 706B. Abby may enter her identification and authenticationinformation into an interface of the plug-in 710B. The information maybe transmitted from the tablet 704 to the server 712 and, in particularto the profile manager 714, which may receive the identification andauthentication information and associate the tablet computer 702 withAbby's profile 716. The profile manager 714 may read the data 612indicating that Abby has previously installed extensions A-E and S. Inan embodiment, the profile manager 714 may request from the tabletcomputer 702 data indicating scripts 116B installed on the tabletcomputer, and may instruct the extension manager 718 to transmit to thetablet computer 702 any extensions indicated in the data 612 but notinstalled on the tablet computer 702. In another embodiment, the profilemanager may send to the tablet computer 702 a list of extensionsindicated in the data 612, and the tablet computer 702 may send arequest for extensions not present among the extensions 116B. Inresponse to the request, the extension manager 718 may transmit to thetablet computer 704 the requested extensions. For example, when Abbybegins using the tablet computer 704, the scripts 116B may include onlythe extension A. Upon receiving the data 612 from the profile manager714 (indicating that extensions A-E and S are installed), the tabletcomputer 704 may request extensions B-E and S from the extension manager718. Some or all of this process may occur without any intervention byAbby. That is, the process may be automatic and transparent to the user.In further embodiments, the extensions 116 may be shared with otherusers through the script 720 database via the network 104.

FIG. 8A is a flow diagram of an example method 800 for creating anduploading scripts 116 that extend the functionality of a 3D web-basedmodeling system 100 generally, and a web-based 3D modeling enginebrowser, in particular. The method 800 may include one or more blocks,modules, functions or routines in the form of computer-executableinstructions that are stored in a tangible computer-readable medium andexecuted using a processor 118 of the client device 102, 702, 704 (e.g.,a personal computer, a smart phone, tablet computer, or a mobilecomputing device, or other personal computing device, as describedherein). The method 800 may be included as part of any modules of acomputing environment for a web-based 3D modeling system 100, 700, or aspart of a module that is external to such a system. For example, themethod 800 may be part of a 3D modeling browser plug-in (e.g., 152, 210,264, 278), a backend server 106, 712, a script interface layer/API 154,212, 290, 708A, 708B, the extensions manager 156, the scripting engine108, a script interpreter 216, 258, or any other module or component.The method 800 may execute at the client device 102, 702, 704 asinterpreted by a browser 150, 206, 256, 276, 706A, 706B, at a server106, 712, or any combination of the client(s) and server(s). Further, auser may activate or disable one or more functions to restrict orprevent the system 100, 700 from collecting and personal data from theuser. For example, a user interface may present an interactive controlto allow a user to opt-in or opt-out of any user personal datacollection. FIG. 8A will be described with reference to FIGS. 1-7 forease of explanation, but the method 800 may of course be utilized withother objects and user interfaces.

At block 802, an interactive control 406 may cause a browser 150, 206,256, 276, 706A, 706B to execute/interpret instructions that instantiatethe script interface window 407 within a user interface 400. The window407 may provide an interface for the user with the classes and methodsof the 3D modeling engine 152, 210, 264, 278 that are exposed throughthe script interface layer/API 154, 212, 290, 708A, 708B. At block 804,a user may develop a script 116. The script may include methods fromclasses exposed via the script interface layer/API 154, 212, 290, 708A,708B. In some embodiments, the exposed classes include methods to drawbasic shapes (e.g., a cube, cylinder, sphere, etc.) as well as methodsto combine the shapes into a composite shape, add textures and skins tothe shapes, etc. A script 116 may include a combination of severalfunctions 410 that are exposed to a user in the window 407 via thescript interface layer/API 154, 212, 290, 708A, 708B. At block 806, themethod 800 may execute instructions to store the developed script 116 ina backend database of the modeling system 100. In some embodiments, themethod 800 may execute instructions to cause the developed script to becommunicated to the script database 114 via the network 104. In otherembodiments, the method 800 may store the developed script 116 locallywithin the client 102 within a data storage component 124 such as themodel/script data storage are 142A.

FIG. 8B is a flow diagram of an example method 825 for modifying a userinterface for a web-based 3D modeling system to make developed scripts116 available to a user of the system 100. The method 825 may includeone or more blocks, modules, functions or routines in the form ofcomputer-executable instructions that are stored in a tangiblecomputer-readable medium and executed using a processor 118 of theclient device 102, 702, 704 (e.g., a personal computer, a smart phone,tablet computer, or a mobile computing device, or other personalcomputing device, as described herein). The method 825 may be includedas part of any modules of a computing environment for a web-based 3Dmodeling system 100, 700, or as part of a module that is external tosuch a system. For example, the method 825 may be part of a 3D modelingbrowser plug-in (e.g., 152, 210, 264, 278), a backend server 106, 712, ascript interface layer/API 154, 212, 290, 708A, 708B, the extensionsmanager 156, the scripting engine 108, a script interpreter 216, 258, orany other module or component. The method 825 may execute at the clientdevice 102, 702, 704 as interpreted by a browser 150, 206, 256, 276,706A, 706B, at a server 106, 712, or any combination of the client(s)and server(s). Further, a user may activate or disable one or morefunctions to restrict or prevent the system 100, 700 from collecting andpersonal data from the user. For example, a user interface may presentan interactive control to allow a user to opt-in or opt-out of any userpersonal data collection. While FIG. 8B will be described with referenceto FIGS. 1-7 for ease of explanation, but the method 825 may of coursebe utilized with other objects and user interfaces.

At block 826, an interactive control may cause the browser 150, 206,256, 276, 706A, 706B to access the modeling server 106 via the network104. As described above in relation to FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C, the 3DModeling System components (i.e., a modeling client 210, modeling engine264, 278) may be requested by the browser as a plug-in component for thebrowser. In some embodiments, login information may be provided to thebackend server 106, 712 in order to access the server(s) 106, 712 or asthe client device requests the 3D Modeling System components 210, 264,278 from the server(s) 106, 712 to launch the user interface 282 on aclient device. At block 828, accessing the backend server for the 3DModeling System components 210, 264, and 278 may also cause the method825 to access a user profile 600 corresponding to the login information.As described in relation to FIG. 6, the user profile information maycorrespond to or be associated with data 608, 610, 612 identifyingscripts 116 created, purchased, and installed by the user as well asicons 404 for the scripts 116. At block 830, the method 825 may use thedata 608, 610, and 612 to determine which scripts 116 stored within thescript database 114 correspond to the data 608, 610, 612. For example,each script 116 may include an identifier or other information thatcorrelates the login information to the script. At block 832, the method825 may retrieve the scripts 116 corresponding to the login information.In some embodiments, the scripts 116 corresponding to the data 608, 610,612 are retrieved from the script repository 114 with other 3D ModelingSystem components (i.e., a modeling client 210, modeling engine 264,278) that are loaded into the program memory of the client device as abrowser plug-in in block 826. In other embodiments, the scripts 116corresponding to the data 608, 610, 612 are stored locally (e.g., at theclient device 102, 702A, 702B) and activated when the 3D Modeling Systemcomponents 210, 264, 278 are loaded into program memory as a browserplug-in at block 826. At block 834, the method 825 may send theretrieved scripts 116 to the client. The modeling components 210, 264,and 278, may also be sent to the client at bock 834. At block 836, boththe modeling components 210, 264, and 278, may be loaded into theprogram memory 122 as a browser plug-in and the retrieved scripts 116may be loaded as an extension of the plug-in.

The following additional considerations apply to the foregoingdiscussion. Throughout this specification, plural instances mayimplement components, operations, or structures described as a singleinstance. Although individual operations of one or more methods areillustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of theindividual operations may be performed concurrently, and nothingrequires that the operations be performed in the order illustrated.Structures and functionality presented as separate components in exampleconfigurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component.Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single componentmay be implemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

For example, the network 104, may include but is not limited to anycombination of a LAN, a MAN, a WAN, a mobile, a wired or wirelessnetwork, a private network, or a virtual private network. Moreover,while only one client device is illustrated in FIG. 1 and two devices702, 704 are illustrated in FIG. 7 to simplify and clarify thedescription, it is understood that any number of client computers ordisplay devices are supported and can be in communication with theserver 106, 712.

Additionally, certain embodiments are described herein as includinglogic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules mayconstitute either software modules (e.g., code stored on amachine-readable medium) or hardware modules. A hardware module istangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain manner. In example embodiments, oneor more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computersystem) or one or more hardware modules of a computer system (e.g., aprocessor or a group of processors) may be configured by software (e.g.,an application or application portion) as a hardware module thatoperates to perform certain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware module maycomprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured(e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) toperform certain operations. A hardware module may also compriseprogrammable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within ageneral-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that istemporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term hardware should be understood to encompass atangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed,permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured(e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certainoperations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardwaremodules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware modules need not be configured or instantiated at any oneinstance in time. For example, where the hardware modules comprise ageneral-purpose processor configured using software, the general-purposeprocessor may be configured as respective different hardware modules atdifferent times. Software may accordingly configure a processor, forexample, to constitute a particular hardware module at one instance oftime and to constitute a different hardware module at a differentinstance of time.

Hardware and software modules can provide information to, and receiveinformation from, other hardware and/or software modules. Accordingly,the described hardware modules may be regarded as being communicativelycoupled. Where multiple of such hardware or software modules existcontemporaneously, communications may be achieved through signaltransmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) that connectthe hardware or software modules. In embodiments in which multiplehardware modules or software are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware or software modules may beachieved, for example, through the storage and retrieval of informationin memory structures to which the multiple hardware or software moduleshave access. For example, one hardware or software module may perform anoperation and store the output of that operation in a memory device towhich it is communicatively coupled. A further hardware or softwaremodule may then, at a later time, access the memory device to retrieveand process the stored output. Hardware and software modules may alsoinitiate communications with input or output devices, and can operate ona resource (e.g., a collection of information).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods or routines described herein may be at leastpartially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or processors orprocessor-implemented hardware modules. The performance of certain ofthe operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The one or more processors may also operate to support performance ofthe relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a“software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of theoperations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples ofmachines including processors), these operations being accessible via anetwork (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces(e.g., application program interfaces (APIs).)

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine,but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments,the one or more processors or processor-implemented modules may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the one or more processors or processor-implemented modulesmay be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

Some portions of this specification are presented in terms of algorithmsor symbolic representations of operations on data stored as bits orbinary digital signals within a machine memory (e.g., a computermemory). These algorithms or symbolic representations are examples oftechniques used by those of ordinary skill in the data processing artsto convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. Asused herein, an “algorithm” or a “routine” is a self-consistent sequenceof operations or similar processing leading to a desired result. In thiscontext, algorithms, routines and operations involve physicalmanipulation of physical quantities. Typically, but not necessarily,such quantities may take the form of electrical, magnetic, or opticalsignals capable of being stored, accessed, transferred, combined,compared, or otherwise manipulated by a machine. It is convenient attimes, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signalsusing words such as “data,” “content,” “bits,” “values,” “elements,”“symbols,” “characters,” “terms,” “numbers,” “numerals,” or the like.These words, however, are merely convenient labels and are to beassociated with appropriate physical quantities.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. For example, some embodimentsmay be described using the term “coupled” to indicate that two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact. The term“coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not indirect contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interactwith each other. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the description. Thisdescription should be read to include one or at least one and thesingular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meantotherwise.

Still further, the figures depict preferred embodiments of a web-based3D modeling system for purposes of illustration only. One of ordinaryskill in the art will readily recognize from the following discussionthat alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustratedherein may be employed without departing from the principles describedherein.

Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciatestill additional alternative structural and functional designs for asystem and a process for providing an extensible framework for web-based3D modeling through the disclosed principles herein. Thus, whileparticular embodiments and applications have been illustrated anddescribed, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are notlimited to the precise construction and components disclosed herein.Various modifications, changes and variations, which will be apparent tothose skilled in the art, may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the method and apparatus disclosed herein without departingfrom the spirit and scope defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tangible non-transitory computer-readablemedium storing instructions for three-dimensional (3D) modeling in abrowser application that executes on a processor of a computing device,the instructions comprising: an interface module that executes on theprocessor to receive user commands from the browser application, thecommands defining a script including functions to modify or create a 3Dmodel and cause a rendering of the 3D model to be displayed in a windowcontrolled by the browser application; a modeling engine that executeson the processor as a compiled plug-in component of the browserapplication, wherein the modeling engine extends the functionality ofthe browser application and the modeling engine includes functions tointerpret model data corresponding to a 3D model and to render the 3Dmodel in accordance with the script; and a script interface layer thatexecutes on the processor to expose the modeling engine functions to theinterface module for use by the script functions, wherein the scriptfunctions extend the modeling engine functions.
 2. The computer-readablemedium of claim 1, wherein the script interface layer is a component ofthe modeling engine.
 3. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, whereinthe browser application executes on the processor to retrieve themodeling engine including the script interface layer from a backendserver.
 4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the browserapplication includes a script interpreter that executes on the processorto interpret, at runtime, the script authored using the script interfacelayer.
 5. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the modelingengine is a dynamic link library (DLL).
 6. The computer-readable mediumof claim 1, wherein the script includes instructions to cause themodeling engine that executes on the processor to interpret model datato determine a combination of geometric primitives and invoke acorresponding OpenGL function.
 7. The computer-readable medium of claim1, wherein the interface module includes a function that executes on theprocessor to add an interactive control within a window of the browserapplication, the interactive control corresponding to the script todraw, format, or edit components of a 3D model.
 8. A computing devicefor extending functions of a 3D modeling system, the computing devicecomprising: a network interface coupled to a communication network; aprocessor; a memory coupled to the processor; a display device coupledto the processor; a browser application stored in the memory thatexecutes on the processor to retrieve content from remote hosts via thecommunications network interface and render the retrieved content on thedisplay device; and a 3D modeling software module stored in the memorythat executes on the processor, the 3D modeling software moduleincluding: an interface module that executes on the processor to receiveuser commands from the browser application, the commands defining ascript including functions to modify or create a 3D model and cause arendering of the 3D model to be displayed in a window controlled by thebrowser application; a modeling engine module that executes on theprocessor as a compiled plug-in component of the browser application,wherein the modeling engine extends the functionality of the browserapplication and the modeling engine includes functions that cause theprocessor to interpret model data corresponding to a 3D model and torender the 3D model on the display device in accordance with the script;and a script interface layer that executes on the processor to exposethe modeling engine functions to the interface module for use by thescript functions, wherein the script functions extend the modelingengine functions.
 9. The computing device of claim 8, wherein the scriptinterface layer is a component of the modeling engine.
 10. The computingdevice of claim 9, wherein the browser application executes on theprocessor to retrieve the modeling engine including the script interfacelayer from a backend server.
 11. The computing device of claim 8,wherein the browser application includes a script interpreter thatexecutes on the processor to interpret, at runtime, the script authoredusing the script interface layer.
 12. The computing device of claim 8,wherein the modeling engine is a dynamic link library (DLL).
 13. Thecomputing device of claim 8, wherein the script includes instructionsthat execute on the processor to cause the modeling engine to interpretmodel data to determine a combination of geometric primitives and invokea corresponding OpenGL function.
 14. The computing device of claim 8,wherein the interface module includes a function that executes on theprocessor to add an interactive control within a window of the browserapplication, the interactive control corresponding to the script todraw, format, or edit components of a 3D model.
 15. A method forextending functions of a browser-based, 3D modeling system in acomputing device operating on a communication network and having amemory and a processor, the method comprising: receiving a 3D modelingengine from a backend server at a browser application, the 3D modelingengine received as a compiled plugin including functions to extend thefunctionality of the browser application, the 3D modeling engineincluding an interface layer that exposes the 3D modeling enginefunctions for use by a script; receiving, via a user interface of abrowser application, a user command for authoring the script, whereinthe script includes instructions that refer to the 3D modeling enginefunctions, and the functions modify respective portions of model data tochange one or more of dimensionality, positioning, and color of a 3Dmodel component; and sending the script to a backend database; whereinthe script is executable to extend the 3D modeling engine functions. 16.The method of claim 15, further comprising associating the script withan interactive control of the user interface, wherein activation of theinteractive control causes the processor to execute the scriptinstructions to draw, format, or edit components of a 3D model.
 17. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the script includes instructions thatexecute on the processor to cause the 3D modeling engine to interpret 3Dmodel data to determine a combination of geometric primitives and invokea corresponding OpenGL function.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein thescript interface layer is a component of the 3D modeling engine.
 19. Themethod of claim 15, further comprising the browser applicationretrieving the 3D modeling engine and the script interface layer fromthe backend server.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein the browserapplication includes a script interpreter that executes on the processorto interpret, at runtime, the script authored using the script interfacelayer.